


The Art of Loss

by PetrichorPerfume



Series: The Art of the Fallen [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Archangels, Character Study, Fallen Angels, Gen, Young Raphael
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-12
Updated: 2016-02-12
Packaged: 2018-05-20 00:03:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5985598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PetrichorPerfume/pseuds/PetrichorPerfume
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raphael loses everything brutally, swiftly, savagely, and all at once.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Art of Loss

Raphael loses everything brutally, swiftly, _savagely,_ and all at once.

 

It’s almost dizzying how fast it’s over; Michael’s sword descends from high above, Lucifer falls, Gabriel screams out a gurgling, _desperate_ protest – he, for his part, stands frozen in fear and remorse and under the weight of something monumental – and then it’s over. Just like that, it’s over. There is no time to weep, no time for any of them to plead mercy or beg forgiveness or say any last teary goodbyes.

 

Lucifer was the first causality of their war – and what a petty, inconsequential thing it seemed now that they understood the cruel destiny they’d set into motion – and the first to be mourned. ( _Mourned_ , Raphael confirms to himself, because for all of Michael’s denial, they all mourned his loss for centuries, no, _millennia_ to come, in the same basic, primal way that one would mourn a loss of self.)

 

Gabriel (and, oh, how he prays for Gabriel, poor, sweet, cherubic, broken Gabriel who understood the brutal breadth of consequence before any of them even processed the enormity of their loss) is the second. He leaves the very next morning for “somewhere better,” somewhere he will be hidden from all of Heaven and Hell and from fate and destiny alike. Not even Michael will be able to find him. This, Raphael knows for certain, because he is the one who helps Gabriel cloak himself in an act of petty, thoughtless revenge against Michael – who has already lost far too much, and who is already teetering on the edge of something viciously dangerous and completely inescapable – regardless of the consequences.

 

Later, Raphael will regret agreeing to help Gabriel with every fiber of his being, for he loses Michael the instant their leader learns of their brother’s departure. A broken, pitiful wail tears its way from Michael’s lips – “Not him, too, please, please, not him,” – and understanding dawns red and bloody in Raphael’s soul.

 

He is alone.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm baaaack~


End file.
